LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing has been awarded a one million dollar grant to help create a more diverse nursing workforce. Assistant Dean for Clinical Nursing Education Dr. Benita Chatmon says not only is this grant for undergraduate students in college but also high schoolers who might be interested in a nursing career…
“We are educating and helping the guidance counselors with knowing the criteria that get them ready and prepared for college.”
According to the U-S Census Bureau, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians make up 40 percent of the US population, but minorities only make up 20 percent of the nursing workforce. Chatmon says if they can have more minority nurses, it could result in better health outcomes for Blacks…
“We know that there’s a big issue when it comes to health inequity and we want to make sure that we have nurses that look like the patients that we’re taking care of.”
Chatmon says a portion of the funding will also go towards promoting academic success for minorities seeking a degree in nursing…
“We implement some one-on-one coaching and have some various workshops that are really geared toward making sure that they are able to get through the nursing program.”
The grant was awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services.
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